ABSTRACT [FROM JOURNAL]

Objectives: We determined the impact of including race, ethnicity, and poverty in risk adjustment models for emergency care sensitive conditions mortality that could be used for hospital pay‐for‐performance initiatives. We hypothesized that adjusting for race, ethnicity, and poverty would bolster rankings for hospitals that cared for a disproportionate share of non‐white, Hispanic, or poor patients.

Despite professional consensus, guidelines, and national campaigns, physicians continue to provide many low-value services. These services are defined as having little to no benefit, little benefit relative to their cost, or outsized potential harm compared to their benefit. Policies have tried to promote high-value care by altering physician compensation, but have had limited success in part because they are rarely based on theories of physician behavior.